How to Find Out If You Are a Trust Beneficiary

If you suspect that a relative, a former employer or a business partner set up a trust for you, the first question is not what you are entitled to. It is whether you are a beneficiary at all. This page explains how to find out if you are a beneficiary of a trust in Mauritius, who is obliged to hold that information, and what to ask for. It stops at the point where you need the trustee to hand over information; that stage is covered in how a beneficiary can request trust information.

Being "named" is only one way of being a beneficiary, and a trustee is not required to tell you in advance. Many people learn of a trust only after a death, a family dispute or a chance remark from an adviser. The checks below work whether the trust is governed by Mauritian law or is a foreign trust administered from Mauritius.

Who counts as a beneficiary

A beneficiary is a person for whose benefit the trustee holds the assets. You can be one in several ways:

• Named individually: the trust deed lists you by name.
• Part of a class: the deed benefits "the children of X" or "the descendants of Y", and you fall within the description.
• Object of a discretion: in a discretionary trust, you belong to the group the trustee may choose from, but you have no fixed share and no guaranteed distribution.
• Contingent: you benefit only if an event occurs, for example reaching a stated age or surviving another beneficiary.

The difference matters. A person with a fixed interest can usually point to a clause that gives them a share. A person in a class of potential beneficiaries may be a beneficiary without ever receiving anything. The deed decides, not the settlor's private intentions. For the rights that follow once you are confirmed, see trust beneficiaries: rights and expectations.

Some trusts have no beneficiary. Under Article 19 of the Trusts Act 2001, a purpose trust (charitable or not) is valid without one, provided its purpose is specific, reasonable, achievable and lawful, the deed provides for an enforcer and a successor enforcer, at least one trustee is a qualified trustee, and the fate of any surplus assets at the end of the trust is set out. If you are looking at a trust of that kind, the right question is who may enforce the purpose, not whether you are a beneficiary.

The steps to follow

Step 1: Collect the clues

Start with what you already hold. Useful starting points include:

• a letter or email from a lawyer, notary or trust company mentioning a "trust", "settlement" or "foundation";
• a will or an estate inventory that refers to assets "held in trust";
• bank or tax papers showing a payment from a trustee;
• a relative's remark that "something was arranged for you";
• a letter of wishes left among personal papers, which sometimes names the intended recipients.

Do not assume that a trust exists because a relative owned property through a company. A family company is a different structure, and its shareholders are not beneficiaries of a trust.

Step 2: Identify the trust

You need enough detail for the right person to recognise your request. Try to establish:

1. the exact name of the trust;
2. the settlor, and the date the trust was created, if known;
3. the trustee, and the licensed provider behind it;
4. the governing law, since Mauritian and foreign trusts follow different rules.

Under Article 60 of the Trusts Act 2001, a foreign trust is governed by its own terms and law, but it cannot be enforced in Mauritius where that would amount to an offence, would be contrary to public policy or would apply directly to immovable property located in Mauritius. A foreign trust with a Mauritian trustee can therefore still be part of your search.

Step 3: Approach the right person

The trustee is the person who holds the answer. Under Article 38(3) of the Trusts Act 2001, a trustee must keep up-to-date accounts and documents, together with an alphabetical register of the names and last known addresses of each beneficiary and settlor. The duty extends to a non-resident foreign trust that the trustee administers. Accounting records must be kept for at least 5 years after completion of the operations concerned. This provision has been in effect since 22 December 2012 (Act 27/12).

In practice this means a properly run trust holds a list that either includes you or does not. The trustee does not have to volunteer it to you, but the record exists.

Acting as a corporate trustee or qualified trustee requires a Management Licence from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) under the Financial Services Act 2007. If the trustee is a professional, it will be an FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence), which also operates under anti-money-laundering obligations. That gives you a regulated address for your letter.

Step 4: Ask for the right documents

Keep the first request narrow. Ask for confirmation of whether you are a beneficiary, and in which capacity. If the answer is yes, ask for the relevant parts of the documents below.

The full trust deed may contain information about other beneficiaries, the settlor and the assets. Trustees are often reluctant to disclose it in full, and may redact it. What a trustee must disclose, and the formal route to ask, is the subject of the request-information page.

Step 5: Keep a record and read the answer

There are three typical outcomes:

• Confirmed as named or in a class. You can ask what the trustee is expected to do and when. A class beneficiary of a discretionary trust is not owed a payment.
• Not a beneficiary. The trustee will usually say so without detail. That is not necessarily final if the trust is later varied.
• No answer. Silence does not prove that you are not a beneficiary. Repeat the request in writing, keep the evidence, and take legal advice on next steps.

Why the trustee may be cautious

Under Article 33 of the Trusts Act 2001, as rewritten by Act 9/19 and in force since 29 May 2019, the trustee keeps information about the trust confidential. The court orders disclosure only on the application of an investigating authority, where the information is required in good faith for an investigation or proceedings relating to a financial crime. A trustee asked by a stranger to confirm who the beneficiaries are will therefore be careful, which is why you should explain who you are and why you think you are connected to the trust. Confidentiality of Mauritius trusts is explained separately.

Confidentiality is not a refusal to engage with a genuine beneficiary. A trustee can usually confirm your own status to you without giving away anyone else's details.

What the regulator and the registers hold

Several records exist, and none is a substitute for asking the trustee.

The FSC register of trusts

Article 26A of the Financial Services Act 2007 requires the FSC to keep a register of domestic trusts and of foreign trusts that have at least one qualified trustee. The register covers, among other things:

• the name and characteristics of the trust;
• the trust deed and its amendments;
• the identity and addresses of beneficiaries, trustees, settlors, protectors and enforcers;
• the purpose, governing law and place of administration;
• the service providers involved.

The qualified trustee must send the FSC the information and documents needed to keep this register, in the time and form the FSC sets. The FSC may also inspect the qualified trustee and have the information verified at the trustee's expense. Article 29 of the same Act goes further: every licensee must keep a register of the beneficial owners of each client (in force since 1 October 2018), and each qualified trustee must keep a register of every trust it administers, available to the FSC on request (paragraph 5(aa), in force since 1 August 2024). These obligations cover existing as well as new clients and trusts.

The point for you: if you are a beneficiary of a trust with a Mauritian qualified trustee, you should appear in these records. Whether an individual may consult the register is a different matter, covered in Is there a register of trusts in Mauritius?.

Beneficial ownership rules

Under the FIAMLA 2002 (FIU version updated in 2026), the beneficial owner of a trust-type legal arrangement includes the settlor, the trustee, any protector, each beneficiary (or the class of beneficiaries and objects of a power) and any other natural person with ultimate effective control, including through a chain of control. The FSC publishes Practice Notes for qualified trustees and providers of corporate trusteeship services explaining how to keep this information current. These are compliance rules for the trustee; they do not create a right for you to inspect anything, but they explain why a professional trustee can answer a precise question.

If the structure is a foundation

A foundation is not a trust, and the answer lies in a different document. Under Article 8 of the Foundations Act 2012, the charter states, among other things, the name, the founder and the founder's notification address in Mauritius, the purposes and objects, the initial assets endowed, and the beneficiary or the way of designating one. Supplementary Articles may exist if the charter allows them, signed by each member of the council (Article 10).

So the charter is the first place to look. Under Articles 36 and 37, the foundation keeps copies of the filed documents, council minutes and a register of council members, founders and persons who endowed it at its registered office. That register may be consulted by the founder, the officers, the Registrar and the FSC; beneficiaries are not on that list. Read what goes into a foundation charter for more detail.

Special situations

The settlor has died. Nothing changes automatically, but the trustee may now have to act. The consequences are explained in what happens to a trust when the settlor dies. The settlor can also be a beneficiary, and under Article 8 of the Trusts Act 2001 cannot be the only one; a settlor's death can therefore trigger a change in who benefits.

The interest is restricted. Article 18 of the Trusts Act 2001 recognises protective or spendthrift trusts, in which a beneficiary's interest can be terminated, restricted or suspended on insolvency or seizure of assets. Being a beneficiary does not always mean you can freely deal with your interest.

A charitable trust. Under Article 20, a trust is presumed charitable where its exclusive purpose is relief of poverty, education, religion, environmental protection, human rights and fundamental freedoms, or another purpose beneficial to the public. Such a trust may be discretionary and may pursue its objects in Mauritius or elsewhere. If you are a possible recipient rather than a named person, your position depends on how the trustee exercises that discretion.

Tax follows once you are confirmed. Under Article 46(4) of the Income Tax Act, any distribution to a trust beneficiary is deemed to be a dividend in the beneficiary's hands. What this means for you depends on your residence and the rules that apply to you; see tax on distributions to beneficiaries and take advice before acting.

A short checklist before you write

• Gather every document that mentions a trust, a settlement or a foundation
• Note the trust's exact name, the settlor and the date, if known
• Identify the trustee or the FSC-licensed corporate service provider (Management Licence)
• Prepare proof of your identity and of your link to the settlor
• Ask first only for confirmation of your status, not the whole file
• Send the request in writing and keep a dated copy
• Note the reply, or the absence of one, and the date

When to take advice

Take advice if the trustee will not confirm your status, if you believe you were meant to benefit but are not named, or if the trust seems to have been set up to defeat your rights. These situations can involve questions of validity, breach of trust or forced heirship, and the answer depends on the facts and the law that governs the trust. This page gives general information, not advice on your situation. If you would like a regulated provider to look at your case, you can use the contact form.